


Pink in the night

by spider_babbo



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bisexual Peter Parker, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gay Harley Keener, Hair-pulling, Harley Keener Needs a Hug, Horny Peter Parker, Horny Teenagers, Love at First Sight, M/M, Multi, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Slow Build, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, he's down bad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:36:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29844372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spider_babbo/pseuds/spider_babbo
Summary: Peter Parker, 17, attends one of Tony's Birthday parties at the tower.Enter Harley Keener, 17: face carved by angels, irresistible, intoxicating.Peter nearly passes out because he's such a big Simp™Watch them fall in love!Tags to be added as there might be smut in this towards the end but not yet so dw.
Relationships: Harley Keener & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Harley Keener/Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 15
Kudos: 140





	1. the party

**Author's Note:**

> Hey chums! I love Harls and Pete so here's me making them fall in love hehe. I'll see how well this is received and if I should carry on or not.  
> The title of the fic is a song by Mitski of the same name.

“Well look at you, Pete!”

Tony opens his arms wide and grins as Peter climbs out of the black Audi happy had just picked him up in. He’s dressed to the nines in a new suit – black with a slight iridescence when the fabric hits the bright spotlights coming from the streets – a suit that Tony insisted he be rewarded with to attend one of the infamous ‘Stark Birthday Bashes’. The Stark Tower is lit up like a Christmas tree, and the magnificent ‘A’ on the side of the tower is glowing in a red and gold especially for Tony. It’s going to be a night to remember as it is every year, and this time Tony’s invited along his favourite teenage vigilante to give the kid something to remember from his teen years besides building Lego death stars (which is _fine_ , but far too peaceful). He’s looking forward to giving the kid a glass of Tony’s personal favourite Laurent-Perrier champagne – just one, he’s only 17 – watching his eyes light up when he sees the whole team is here, bombarding Thor with physics questions about his hammer seen as the guy can’t stand to go to a party without it, watching him puff out his chest slightly whenever Cap got closer to Tony.

Yeah, Peter was still a little bitter about the whole fiasco over the accords, but Tony was working on getting him to feel more comfortable around the rogues. This was the ulterior motive to inviting Peter along to the party, but he didn’t need to know that.

So Peter’s dressed to impress, and Tony places his hands on his shoulders, and makes a brushing motion to flatten the shoulder pads. Peter smiles coyly at Tony’s compliment, but this really isn’t _him_. He’d much rather be in his staple blue plaid shirt and black jeans, and he’d felt really over dressed in the backseat of the car – until he’d seen Tony in his deep red velvet suit embellished with swirling gold paisley patterns colliding all over him. It’s very Tony. And very Iron Man. Also, he’s incredibly grateful that Tony would think to not only invite him, but gift him a suit to attend his birthday party. So, he makes sure that

“Honestly Mr Stark, thank you so much, you really didn’t have to.” Are the first words that leave his mouth when he greets him.

Tony just rolls his eyes, “You’re too nice kid, you’ve already sent 5 thank you texts, I’m telling you it’s _my pleasure._ ” Tony gestures for Peter to step in the glass lift that will take them to the party, and Tony can’t help smiling at how much Peter has grown in so little time. Don’t get him wrong, he’s still got those Bambi eyes and cherub curls, but his face is not 15 anymore. His jaw has sharpened, his cheeks are not so rounded, he’s leaner and taller. He’s almost Spider _Man,_ and Tony feels he’s closer to understanding how parents feel when they say ‘you’ll blink and they’ll be going to college’.

Peter notices his smiling, and stifles a laugh as he says “What, you think I look weird?”

“No, of course not! Just think having your zip low is a bold fashion statement that’s all.”

Peter’s eyes go wide, and his head shoots down to check his fly, only to realise Tony’s just kidding and made him look. It’s Peter’s turn to roll his eyes as the lift starts to ascend.

“Who’s gonna be here Mr Stark?”

“Oh the usual gang, all the team, a few of mine and Pep’s old friends. Speaking of, you won’t be the only 17 year-old.”

Peter turned curiously to Tony. “Is he another one of your ‘interns’ who fights crime in spandex?” Peter jokes.

“Not quite, but he helped me out of a very tricky spot a while back – really brave kid. And just as enthusiastic about robotics, you two will probably get along.”

Peter was intrigued, and he noticed how Tony’s expression seemed to sombre when he mentioned ‘tricky spot’. He didn’t want to pry, but he imagined it was a time period of Tony’s life that was dangerous, scandalous, and largely publicised…so that didn’t really narrow it down. He supposed he’d find out more about the other kid his age when he met him. Peter also _definitely_ wasn’t the jealous type, and was _absolutely_ not feeling apprehensive about meeting another teenager who Tony might possibly value and need more than him…

The elevator slowed to a halt, signalling their arrival at the party, and the doors opened letting the music and chatter fill their ears. Tony exited first, sensing Peter’s initial nerves, and led him to some familiar faces to settle in and relax. The floor is functional but homely, with soft blue coaches, a warm fireplace, a bar lit up in gold, and music quiet enough to talk over but loud enough to dance to. Floor to floor windows reveal New York city in all her glory; twinkling lights flicker as far as the eye can see. It’s comforting to Peter that his home is just on the other side of the glass, and he feels like a watchman all the way up here in the clouds. Tony hands him a glass of bubbling gold champagne whilst he’s greeting Bruce and Rhodey – Bruce of course raises an eyebrow – and he makes sure to say “Make it last kiddo, that’s the only one you’re getting.” Peter takes a sip and feels the initial burn in the middle of his tongue, not managing to hide a grimace. Yet when he swallows it leaves a pleasant and fragrant taste, and Tony smiles fondly at his reaction.

Tony leaves them to talk, and 5 minutes later he’s returning with another person, and Peter honest to _God_ nearly shatters the flute in his hand as he catches sight of the boy approaching. He’s radiant, decadent, magnificent, just fucking _beautiful,_ Peter’s running out of words worthy enough to describe him. He walks so casually on these long, lean legs, brown hair bouncing with every step, pure golden eyes so serene and calm as they take in their surroundings. He also has a glass of champagne in one hand; long and delicate fingers clasping the stem, and one thumb strokes the bass. And when his eyes land on Peter, he watches how he opens those rose-pink lips to smile, tongue gently touching his front teeth when says “Hey Peter, nice to meet you.” In a silver-tongued Texas accent, and his eyebrows furrow a little as –

“Earth to Peter!” Tony knocks him out of his stupor by nudging him on the shoulder, and he feels his cheeks heat up at the realisation he’s just been gawping at this angelic boy whilst he’s tried to introduce himself.

“Kid, you’ll be a cheap night out for sure, you’ve only had half a glass of champagne.” Tony snorts and Peter tries to find his voice again.

“I’m not dunk Mr Stark…and nice to meet you too…um – “

“Harley, but Harls is also fine.” And he smirks at Peter and oh _God_ he’s going to faint. Luckily Mr Stark starts talking again, giving Peter some time to collect himself.

“Harley here is a bit of a science and robotics enthusiast too. I reckon both your minds together might _just_ rival my genius. Anyways, best go mingle, you two don’t go breaking anything and if anyone tries to get you more alcohol, _I’ll know.”_ Tony makes a ‘I’m watching you’ action as he backs away from the two boys, and grins as he sees how well they go together. He knows Peter gets flustered when meeting and greeting new people, but Tony feels like he’s just watched a scene from a RomCom where the main love interest falls in love at first sight. Peter really wears his heart on his sleeve, and he just hopes Harley isn’t too abrasive.

“Am I right in thinking you got a suit from Tony for this party as well?” Harley smiles as he looks over Peter’s attire, and he squirms a little under his gaze. It’s not that it made him uncomfortable, more of a _holy shit this perfect human being is right in front of me and is looking over me oh god –_

“Yeah – yeah he did. I really don’t dress up like this, but he was insistent, and it was really nice of him.” Peter replies, noticing his voice is a margin higher than normal. 

“How long have you known him?”

Peter blanches a little, wondering if Tony would have told him who Peter really is, but he decides to stick with the ‘just an internship’ for now.

“Oh since I was like, 15. I intern with him.” And Peter looks for any signs of disbelief on Harley’s face as he speaks.

“Wow that’s crazy. You must be a pretty special intern.” Harley smiles that small smile again and Peter’s heart is about to explode with the way this boy has made him feel in the past 2 minutes alone. Peter thought he had been in love before, with Liz, and don’t get him wrong, every time he saw Liz he got that swooping feeling in his stomach like he was on a roller coaster and he’d blush when she talked to him. But this right now, with Harley, those feelings were tenfold. He was hit with the sudden realisation that this may be the only time he’d ever see Harley in his life, and he forced himself to take detailed mental pictures, so he’d never forget what he looked like.

“What about you: how long have you known Mr Stark?” Peter asked.

Harley looked towards Tony across the room, and memories seemed to flash across his face. “Since I was pretty young, about 11. He sort of…crashed into my life, and pops in and out occasionally.”

Peter didn’t know what that meant, and he wasn’t going to be pushy for answers, but it gave him a little hope that he might be able to see Harley again if he’d known Tony for so long.

“Yeah, it’s never really a dull moment with Mr Stark.” And Harley hums in agreement.

A beat of surprisingly comfortable silence follows, before Harley asks “So what kind of stuff do you work on for the internship?” and then they’re off into fluid conversation on the mechanics of the Iron Man suit, then debating titanium alloy or carbon fibre, how Tony cracked the inertial dampener technology that stops him turning to jelly in his suit, and then somehow they ended up on Star Wars. To Peter’s utter relief, Harley doesn’t seem to mind Peter vehemently arguing his case on just how powerful and overlooked Princess Leia is. Harley laughs softly at Peter’s crazy analogies, and how his mouth can’t seem to keep up with the speed his huge mind works at.

“Damn, and I thought I knew a fair bit about Star Wars.” Harley jokes, and Peter’s smile falters as he realises _fuck, I’ve been rambling._ Intuitive Harley notices this:

“S’okay darlin’, it’s really cute.”

Peter absolutely flatlines at ‘darlin’ and he seems to be catching social breaks at just the right time this evening, as before he has a chance to make a fool out of himself in front of Harley, Tony’s tapping a glass to get everyone’s attention for a speech. Peter doesn’t really catch much of what Tony says, as he’s still concentrating on getting the blood _away_ from his cheeks and air back into his lungs. After Harley lets out a deep chuckle at one of Tony’s quips aimed at Thor, the chatter slowly returns with the music, and Harley excuses himself to the bathroom. Peters finished his champagne now and looks for a convenient place to leave the empty glass. He decides the bar is probably the best place, and here is also where he finds some much-needed ice water which pulls him back slightly from his ridiculously love-drunk state.

As he’s sipping his water, he hears a familiar voice say purposefully loud to the barmen “This one’s only 17! Only a juice box for him.”

Peter tuts as he turns to Tony and wiggles the glass in front of his face saying, “It’s just water, _Dad._ ” Tony pats him on the back affectionately and settles down next to him.

“So, what do you make of Harley? When I looked over you two seemed to be getting along like a house on fire.”

Peter looks down at his glass to hide the grin creeping onto his face without permission.

“Yeah, I really like him. As in you know, he seems really nice – not like _like_ him, just like…like him” Peter taps his fingers against his glass as he stumbles on how to describe how he feels about Harley without sounding like an utter creep.

“Pete, you say the word ‘like’ far too much. But I’m glad you’re getting along – how would you feel about him coming down to the lab one day? He’s never seen it and I think it’s high time I showed him around properly now he’s older – “

“I’d love that!” Peter says _way_ too quickly to look normal. “I mean yeah, sure that’d be cool.” Tony tries hard to hold in his smile watching Peter fidget excitedly at his idea.

“Wait Mr Stark, you’re not gonna tell him that I’m Spider Man, are you?” Peter asks cautiously.

“Nah, we won’t work on anything spider related whilst he’s here. I mean if you do tell him that’s a whole other NDA form, I’d have to sort out – “

“It’s alright Mr Stark, I’m not planning on saying anything.” Peter interrupts, and all he can think about is how he knows he’ll get to see Harley at least one more time soon. He bites his lip to hold in the giddiness that threatens to spill out; lab time is already a highlight in Peter’s schedule but doing it with Harley there seems like the perfect opportunity to get to know this gorgeous specimen properly.

The rest of the night is spent around the fire on the couches with the rest of the Avengers plus Harley, who’s very good at keeping himself looking cool and collected around the superheroes and joins in with the chatter effortlessly. Peter, beside him, is envious of this ability, and really wished he hadn’t behaved like a rabbit on speed the first time he’d been in a room with all of them at once. The whole time, both Peter and Harley keep catching each other’s eyes, and it sends electric buzzes down Peter’s spine. He alternates between his commonly known ‘I’m nervous’ bodily actions – which include but are not limited to picking at his cuticles, rubbing his hands over his trousers, cracking his bones – to try and alleviate his symptoms of being plain awestruck by Harley. He’s decided that being in love is _exhausting_ even with his stamina as an enhanced individual, and wonders how he’s going to cope the next time they meet in a much quieter and confined space…


	2. It's lab day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter is a cinnamon roll.
> 
> No explicit sexual content but hints to it/ peter needs to go to horny jail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyy I am back earlier than expected, hope you like! I think there will be smut in this fic eventually but maybe like gentle smut if that makes sense?
> 
> Chapter feature auntie Nat a little!!

Peter rouses from sleep as F.R.I.D.A.Y plays a gentle morning alarm. He forgets why he’s so excited at first, and then he catches sight of his tie from last night draped across his desk chair. He grins automatically, and with unusual motivation starts to get ready for the day – Peter’s never really been a morning person.

As he hops in the shower, his mind replays the end of the evening to him like his favourite movie. He can see Harley approaching him as the night is drawing to a close and guests are either leaving or taking to their rooms in the tower. He sees the flash of white teeth as he says “I guess I’ll see ya tomorrow, Peter.” His smile wrinkling those amber eyes.

He feels himself reply, saying “Yeah, looking forward to it!” mirroring Harley’s grin. He realises that Harley is walking closer towards him, into Peter’s more personal sphere where only a select few are allowed to come into, and he tenses a little. Harley extends a lean arm out, for a handshake, and Peter nearly squeals when another bubble of giddiness creeps up his throat. He reaches out and clasps it gently, conscious of times where he’s given a handshake during heightened emotional states and forgotten about his super-strength. He nearly broke one of Bruce’s fingers the first time they’d met.

He’s just thinking about how well Harley’s hand fits in his, then suddenly he feels himself being pulled inwards, and then his face is resting on Harley’s shoulder, and _oh my god he’s actually hugging me oh shit –_

The smell of wood sage and sea salt fills his nose, and he feels suspended in this moment like he’s hanging on by one of his webs on a patrol, up in the clouds and nothing in his way.

It’s over as quickly as it happened, and there’s Harley’s face again in front of him, winking as he backs away from Peter in the direction of what he assumes is his room at the tower for the night. Peter is glued to the spot, and puts his hand up feebly to wave, wiggling his tingling fingers, still feeling the imprints of Harley’s hand in his.

Okay okay, yeah – Peter knows it was literally just a friendly hug. A common and sweet gesture given when you’ve just had a really good time with someone and you’re parting ways. _Literally_ nothing more.

As the first droplets of water hit his face, he feels himself cringing at just how much he’s propping up on one hug. He knows he’s being so dramatic about all this – but it’s honestly so exhilarating being infatuated with Harley. It feels like the first time he tried out his web fluid on a proper skyscraper, and actually managed to swing over 8 blocks at once. He swears his heart rate hasn’t dropped below 120 since he first laid eyes on him. As he lathers the shampoo into his hair, he decides he’s going to text MJ about last night and the boy in question; she’ll give him her opinion in her honest yet kind sort of way. She’ll call him a Simp™- he still doesn’t really get why she puts a trademark on the end of it – and give him the talk about catching feelings too early. But if it means offloading to someone and getting to talk about how amazing he feels after last night, it’s worth MJ’s slightly strident attitude.

Peter makes a lather of shower gel in his hands, and he’s _really_ trying to stay level-headed. But as he runs his hands over _those_ places, he really can’t help imagining his own hands replaced with Harley’s. He remembers how delicate his long fingers were holding that champagne glass, when he clasped Peter’s hand in his own, resting his face against a broad suited shoulder and feeling Harley’s other hand gently pat his back. He inhales deeply and he swears he can smell Harley again like he’s just in front of him, and he hears that deep, vibrating chuckle again in his ears –

_Oh Jesus fuck I just fucking moaned._

Peter’s accidental vocal expression jolts him from his daydreams, and even though he knows he’s alone, he clamps a hand over his mouth and feels his cheeks burn a little. He finishes off his shower with haste, trying his best to concentrate on mundane and mathematical thoughts that will direct the blood flow _away_ from his groin and back to his brain. He dries himself off with a fluffy towel, scrunching his damp curls so they hold in place and don’t end up looking like Doc’s from Back to the Future, and throws on his blue MIT hoodie and jeans. By the time he reaches the communal kitchen for breakfast, he’s feeling more comfortable, and there’s no chance of him having to pull his hoodie all the way past his crotch to hide a…well…

…yeah okay, a ridiculous hard-on for a boy he was just fantasising about in the shower and now has to spend a whole day in a confined space with.

It’s just him in the kitchen when he enters, and he goes to the coffee pot to pour himself a cup. As he’s rooting through the cupboards for his favourite flavour of Pop-Tarts (cinnamon roll obviously), his spidey-sense tells him someone has entered the kitchen.

“Hey Nat” Peter says from within the cabinet.

“Hey Pete. Where’s your boyfriend?”

Peter whacks the back of his skull on one of the shelves with a dull thud, and whips around too quickly to raise a very pointed eyebrow at Natasha.

“Say that again?”

“You know, the lanky, brown-haired one you were glued to at the entire party last night. Did he not stay with you?” Natasha asks, in seemingly ignorant bliss. Peter can’t help but suspect she’s doing this on purpose to tease him.

“Okay first of all: Harley is not my boyfriend. Only just met him last night after Mr Stark introduced us.” Peter really tries to quash down the pang of longing felt when he says that Harley isn’t his boyfriend.

“Second of all: he is still here. Him, Mr Stark and I are spending the day in the lab. Harley’s never seen it before, and he’s a bit of a robotics nerd like me so Mr Stark thought it’d be a nice idea whilst he’s in town.”

“That’s sweet. It looked like you’d known each other forever last night…I didn’t mean to assume anything.” The way Natasha articulates that sentence with no hint of regret confirms to Peter that she _was_ trying to wind him up. He wonders if any other members of the team noticed his behaviour around Harley last night; clearly, he wasn’t being very subtle in his admiration of the boy.

Peter rolls his eyes as he turns away from her again, deciding he’d have to settle on cherry flavour Pop-Tarts for his breakfast. It’s still sweet and does the job, but it’s not the same, and he can’t help but staring a little forlorn at the half eaten one in his hand as he chews. He hears another pair of footsteps approaching to his left, some he’s not familiar with, and whoever it is does an almighty yawn and Peter hears the faint pop of joints.

“Mornin’.”  
  


_Oh fuck. He knows exactly who this is._

“Gosh Pete – what did that Pop-Tart do to you?” asks Harley jokingly.

_Calm Peter. Thank God you decided to shower before getting breakfast._

“There’s no cinnamon roll flavour ones in the cupboard – they’re my favourite, and these aren’t really doing it for me.” Peter replies, pouting a little at Harley.

“Aw sugar, that’s a shame.” Peter has to take a _huge_ gulp of coffee to stop himself choking at hearing Harley call him _sugar._ He catches Nat’s eye for a split second before she looks down into her drink, suppressing a smirk. Harley walks to the coffee pot and pours himself a cup, then sits directly next to Peter. He watches Harley, out of the very corner of his eye, as he purses his lips to take a sip, and he takes in as much of Harley’s immaculate side-profile as he can. He can feel Natasha watching him observe Harley, but honestly, he doesn’t really care. He swallows thickly in an attempt to loosen up his voice ask he asks,

“You looking forward to today?”

“Yeah, absolutely. I’ve only ever seen Tony’s more portable tech, never where he builds it all, so this’ll be great.” Harley replies. Peter can only assume that by ‘portable tech’ Harley means the Iron Man suits, and he’s still not any closer to working out how him and Mr Stark actually came to meet.

Harley asks him a few questions about the lab and what to expect; he’s careful to leave out any Spiderman specific stuff. Tony had said they could wander down to the lab any time from 10:30, and both being keen beans, they jump up from their seats at 10:29, say goodbye to Natasha, and hop in the lift that will take them downstairs.

“I really enjoyed the party last night.” Harley begins on their way down, “I thought I’d just end up spending it hidden in the corner not knowing anyone but Tony, but it was way better once he introduced me to you.”

Peter blushes slightly at the genuine compliment from him and has to silently clear his throat before replying.

“Thanks Harley. I – I’m glad Tony introduced us too.” They both smile and look away at the same time, and Peter gets the sense that Harley was going to say something else, before the lift comes to a gentle halt and the doors open revealing the lab. He hears Harley draw a sharp breath as he takes it all in – a stark contrast to when Peter first saw the lab as the doors opened, he yelped in delight like a puppy.

The lab is bathed in a blue hue, dazzling spotlights and holograms surrounding the various work benches, all with their own helpful animations and colour schemes creating a sort of disco effect. He wonders how good this is for Tony’s eyes. There’s clear glass surrounding the lab itself in case of fire, gasses, and other hazards that might seep out accidentally from within, so there’s an extra door to enter after they leave the lift. Luckily, Tony’s facing them as they step out, obviously not playing his music so loud that he couldn’t hear F.R.I.D.A.Y. announcing their arrival. Tony smiles and waves them forward, mouthing ‘it’s open’, and Peter pushes the door. For the morning after his birthday bash, Tony really doesn’t look that hungover. Sure his eyes are a little tired looking, perhaps he’s a little pale, but he looks like he’s had time to shower and grab some breakfast before getting down here.

“I knew you’d be eager to turn up at 10:30 on the dot when I said, ‘wander down from 10:30’, so I just got here half an hour early to set up a few things.” Tony said fondly as he walks around from his seat to greet them.

“How much caffeine are you on right now?” Harley asks knowingly.

“That, is none of your business, beanstalk.”

Tony gives Harley the staple newcomer tour of the areas of the lab, clearly enjoying the light that continues to grow in Harley’s eyes the more he sees. Tony’s most sentimental marks are lit up by atmospheric floor lights, behind their own glass cases, and Peter notices how they both stop to observe one in particular – mark 42 – for a few minutes, quietly talking. When they come back to where Peter has settled on his usual work bench, he swears he can see the glint of emotion and old memories in their eyes. He won’t ask, but he hopes Tony or Harley will tell him the story one day. Tony then gives Harley a run-down of the basic lab rules (“Just don’t blow anything up”), and let’s Harley explore the tools and materials that are available for use.

Peter has already got some stuff he was working on last week on his work bench. He knows he said last night at the party to Mr Stark that he wouldn’t get anything spider related out today, but he’s not exactly making web fluid. He’s working on a better sensor and automation for the different settings on his web shooters so Karen can tell which web style he wants without him having to say. Plus, Harley’s from Texas. Spiderman’s probably not even known where he’s from.

Peter see’s Harley carting bits and bobs from the various store boxes full of nails, screws, and other paraphernalia to the work bench he’s using. As if Harley wasn’t attractive enough in a neutral expression, Peter realises that Harley’s concentration face is making him feel like Tony’s turned the AC up in here. Those heavy brows that sit above his amber eyes, narrowed in thought, jaw clenched so his jawline is so sharp it could shave his hair. But then Harley does something impossibly adorable and pokes a tiny corner of his tongue out as he’s soldering on a small circuit board.

Peter knows he’s staring for longer and longer each time he looks up to where Harley is, but he really can’t help it. Embarrassingly, he clocks Tony noticing Peter’s ogling intervals, and the fact that he sees Tony smirking to himself makes his cheeks burn hotter.

_I’m never going to get anything done ever again._


	3. date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ooooo this one is a little more horny! No smut yet tho.
> 
> Continues where we left off in the lab.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks so much for all your kudos and lovely comments <3
> 
> This would have been out earlier but I lost a few hundred words because of a save issue so had to start again :(
> 
> I promise there will be texts to MJ featured in the next one lol.

Tony will admit, he is absolutely _loving_ this.

Even though he’s a little disappointed that Peter didn’t spend more time socialising and getting more comfortable with the rest of the team during his birthday party, he’s thrilled at being an accidental matchmaker. Watching him fall head over heels with Harley at true super-human speed is fascinating and heart-warming, and although he knows Peter in teenage angst will automatically assume it’s unrequited, Tony senses that Harley’s melting on the inside for him under his cooler exterior. He knows how awful it would be for them if things went tits up, both boys having the trauma of abandonment in their past’s, but Tony is a firm believer in loving like you’ve never had your heart broken. His sixth sense is telling him that it will be a really good thing for them both, so he’s trusting the process.

When he’d woken up next to Pepper the morning after the party, he’d told her all about witnessing Peter and Harley’s adorable first interaction.

“I’m telling you Pep, it was like when Harry met Sally. I felt like Cupid himself shooting a bow straight through Peter – he could barely move!”

Pepper had chuckled, giving Tony a gentle kiss on the head.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a pleasant mood like this the morning after one of your birthdays.” She sighs gently, and her tone becomes a margin more serious.

“But Tony, promise me you won’t go meddling in whatever this turns out to be? They’re both 17, they can figure it out.”

“Yeah, I know, but there’s no harm in keeping Harley in town for a few days extra…” Tony grins slyly up at Pepper, and she throws her arms up to say ‘whatever, I’m leaving you to it’, and she hops out of bed, leaving Tony to his daydreams.

He’s been wanting to deepen his relationship with Harley ever since becoming, dare he say, a father figure to Peter – he just can’t seem to get enough of the warm fuzzy feeling that comes when Peter asks him for help on his homework, or when he sees him wrapped up in a blanket on the couch as he watches Brooklyn 99, or when Peter smiles sleepily up at him from the breakfast table when he’s stayed the night. Harley’s a talented kid who like Peter, has had his fair share of family related trauma, and as long as Harley wants to be a main part of Tony’s life, he’s going to become more of a main part of his.

* * *

Now he’s in the lab with the love birds, and he’s watching Peter watching Harley. He’s really trying to bite down on his lips to stop himself from smirking at how little work Peter is getting done; the screwdriver in his right hand has been slowly slipping from his fingers as Peter takes longer and longer to gaze at Harley. It’s adorable, and he cannot wait to gossip to Rhodes about this, otherwise he’ll explode. Harley, oblivious to the staring coming from his right, has got his typical goofy concentration face on, where his tongue sticks out of the corner of his mouth, and he knits his eyebrows together so much they join in the middle – Peter is obviously smitten with this image.

He’s got an unusual assortment of stuff on his work bench, some circular looking scrap that he’s dug out of one of Tony’s spare part buckets, and some little wheels too.

“What’re you making, Harls?”

“A Roomba.” Harley replies, without taking his eyes off his project.

This time Peter turns to Harley properly, without any subtlety, with raised brows. Tony mirrors his confused face.

“What the hell is a Roomba?” Peter asks.

“It’s one of those little robot vacuums on wheels, they just go round your floor without you needing to do it.” Harley continues, giggling a little, “I’m gonna programme it to scream when it bumps into anything.”

Tony face plants with an audible slap, groaning. “Well as soon as it’s finished, it’s not allowed to be within a 5-mile radius of me.”

“I was thinking it’d be good for your bedroom, Tony.” Harley replies sarcastically, and Tony sticks a finger up at him.

Peter on the other hand, looks absolutely fascinated and hops up from his bench to go over to Harley’s and starts grilling him on how he’s going to programme the sensors. Harley talks animatedly about the specifics, and Peter drinks in every word, barely holding in his interruptions and chuckles at the absurdity of Harley’s screaming vacuum project.

“Wait, where’re you going to get the screaming sounds from?” Peter asks suspiciously after a while. Harley looks up from his work, menacing grin plastered on his face.

“Not got to that stage yet…” He looks up at Peter and winks, and Tony notices Peter white-knuckling the workbench for support. He walks slowly back to his own work bench, runs his hands through his hair erratically, and becomes suddenly very focused on the work in front of him. Tony needs a coffee and stands to head up to the coffee machine.

There’s a coffee machine in the lab, but Harley and Peter don’t need to know that.

“Just heading up to the kitchen – you guys want anything?”

They both shake their heads, so Tony makes his way to the elevator.

Peter is still regaining his ability to think straight (not that kind of straight, he’s never felt gayer in his entire life) after the wink Harley shot him, before he’s coming over to Peter’s work bench and sitting next to him.

“What’re you working on?” Harley asks coolly.

Peter realises he hasn’t thought of a cover story for what he’s got in front of him – his web shooters – and Harley’s not stupid. So, he goes for the half-truth.

“Oh, they’re like these new wrist weapons for Natasha that I’ve been working on. I’m making them more automated to her style of fighting, so she won’t have to keep manually selecting what, uh, attack she wants to use.”

“Wow, do you make a lot of Avengers tech?” Harley asks earnestly.

“Nah, not really, it’s usually Tony that does it with me observing and inputting. I’m just experimenting really.” Peter shrugs modestly, twiddling a web shooter in his hands.

“That’s pretty neat, Peter.” He can tell that Harley is genuinely impressed and is admiring his work. He gets a little shiver down his spine and smiles up at Harley, as he mutters a small ‘thank you’.

Harley reaches out to pick up one of the web shooters, looking to Peter for approval, and he nods his head to signal he can look at them. He turns them over in his hands gently, eyes widening slightly in fascination at their intricacy. Peter is transfixed once again – he decides he very much likes watching Harley concentrate, and the view is even better up close.

“I kinda imagined this is what Spiderman would use to shoot is webs, unless that stuff actually comes _out_ of him? Ew, that’s gross-”

“It doesn’t come out of him!” Peter accidentally yells, making Harley jump back a little at the interruption. “I mean, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t, but who would know, right?” Peter nervously giggles and goes to scratch the back of his head, but stops himself when he hears MJ’s voice in his mind telling him ‘I know you’re lying when you do that, idiot.’

“Uh huh…” Harley eyes Peter, squinting a little, and Peter feels himself getting hotter under the scrutinising look.

“How – how come you know about Spiderman?” Peter asks cautiously.

“Are you kidding? From what I’ve seen on YouTube he’s awesome, just wish he’d come to my state – you New Yorkers get everything.” Harley remarks jealously. Peter finds it near impossible to stop himself from beaming at the fact that Harley called Spiderman awesome, and he watches him on YouTube, called _him_ awesome…

“Have you ever seen him?” Harley presses.

Peter shakes his head quickly and is thinking about how he can tactically divert the subject away from his vigilante alter-ego that’s supposed to be top secret, when the rumble of the elevator warns them of Tony’s arrival. For some reason, Peter has the urge to jump back away from Harley when Tony enters, like they’ve been caught in the middle of a heated moment. It’s just, Harley makes him _squirm_ in his seat when he’s sat this close to him, so effortlessly gorgeous and cool. When Peter looks into Harley’s eyes and they smile at each other, the feeling is so intense and leaves him so short of breath, he really does feel like he’s been making out with him. Harley, calm and collected, doesn’t move an inch when Tony walks in. In fact, he leans forward and rests his head in one hand, elbow propped up on Peter’s work bench to anchor him there. He wiggles his eyebrows at Peter, which makes him grin, and Peter copies Harley’s position, partly to mock him, but also so he can close the space between them even more.

Tony had greeted them when he’d sat down, but they were too busy gazing into each other’s eyes, and Peter really didn’t want to burst the peaceful bubble that had surrounded them both.

Alas, Tony pops it for them.

“Hey, why don’t you two go out for lunch or something? It’s actually a really nice day out – would be great for you to see some of the city when it’s like this Harley.”

“I’m cool with that – you up for it, Pete?” Harley asks, leaning in even closer to Peter,

“Yeah, yeah absolutely!” Peter breathes lightly.

They don’t catch Tony covering his mouth to stifle the laughter bubbling up at how atrociously sweet they look together, and the fact that he’s basically just sent them out on a date.

* * *

They’re sitting cross legged on a roof of sorts – they climbed up 2 flights of fire escape steps and found a lower-level roof that was high enough to make Peter feel more in the Spiderman mindset and less of the Peter Parker _holy shit it’s just me and this hot boy alone_ mindset. They still had a view across the East River, the water’s surface glistening under the midday sunshine, a few clouds hanging around in the sky making the daylight bright but tolerable.

Peter had taken Harley to his favourite falafel place; he would often stop by halfway through his patrol and they would give him a special discount, and he’d nearly forgotten he wasn’t in the suit when he went to pay. After laughing through full mouths when both of their bulging wraps spilled houmous over the table and all down their hands, they had cleaned up and headed to get churros. Harley spent a lot of the walking around with his neck back and eyes up, taking in the true scale of the typical New York skyscrapers Peter scaled a few times a week. This gives him plenty of opportunities to sneak admiring looks at Harley, and the way his pale neck is exposed as he’s looking up at his surroundings is driving Peter insane. Tony was right – it was a perfect day to explore the city.

“Does it ever feel, like, too much?” Harley had asked gently as they were about to enter the queue for churros.

Peter frowns and goes to speak, but Harley interrupts.

“I mean, this place is amazing, but it’s so giant. Like there’s constantly something right in front of you – there’s no space to look. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, yeah it does.” Peter replies, and suddenly has an idea.

“I know somewhere we can sit where the view is a bit less…crowded. We can eat our churros there.” He’s pleased when Harley relaxes a little at this.

So, here they were. Peter uses a finger to scrape the last of the sugar out of his churro pot and sucks the granules off of them. He turns to look at Harley as he’s gone a bit quiet and finds him staring at Peter with a _look._ His eyes are boring into him, more specifically his index finger as it hangs in his mouth, the last of the sugar melting onto his tongue. Harley is chewing on his lip ever so slightly, hair stirring in the wind, and he seems to be gripping his knees a little bit tighter than looks normal.

At first, Peter thinks he’s done something wrong, and slowly lowers his finger from his mouth, which causes a tiny string of saliva to stick to it like one of his webs. He realises Harley saw that, and feels his face heat up whilst he scrambles to wipe his finger on a napkin.

A hand clasps around his wrist firmly before he can get there, and he looks up to Harley who’s looking right into his eyes now.

“What-“

Harley pulls Peter forward by his wrist, so they’re face to face, and there’s a split second where they just look at one another, before they’re kissing fervently. Harley comes up on his knees, clasping Peter’s cheeks in both hands to tilt his head upwards, making sure their lips never loose contact, and Peter joins him, snaking his arms around Harley’s back to pull him closer.

Everything is dialled to 1000 for Peter, but not in a sensory-overload way, in a _oh fuck this is amazing_ way. He feels Harley’s heat underneath his shirt, hears the way their tongues and lips stick and unstick as they kiss, hears Harley’s lovely sighs mingling with his own making perfect vibrations on his face. Peter’s stomach is doing acrobatics as one of Harley’s hands moves slowly from his cheek to round the back of his head, and feels his fingers running through his hair.

_Please pull my hair._ He thinks loudly.

As if Harley telepathically heard his desperate request, he tugs gently on Peter’s curls, to test the water. Peter’s whine of pleasure leaves him before he knows it’s coming, and Harley knows he’s hit a spot, so he grasps more of Peter’s hair and pulls a little harder. This time Peter properly moans, and it's _music_ to Harley’s ears, and he leans in further to cradle Peter as he enjoys himself.

Peter panics however, worried that someone might have heard that (they’re not very high up after all) and is suddenly very aware that they’re out in the open, two guys passionately making out on a roof top. Although New York City is probably one of the safer places in the US to be queer, Peter's gut reaction is to hide any indications that he might be.

He breaks the kiss with Harley and pulls back a bit, instantly feeling colder, and he sees the corners of Harley’s mouth downturn.

“Do you think anyone heard that?” Peter whispers.

Harley just chuckles, “I don’t care if they did, darlin’.” And he leans in to kiss Peter, but he dodges it. This time, Harley looks with frustration at Peter, and then disappointment washes over his face as he lets go of him.

“You’re embarrassed aren’t you. I’m sorry, I guess I got it wrong –“

“No, no I’m not! Sorry, I just realised that we’re in a pretty public place and – “

“Save it, Peter.” Harley interrupts again, standing up. “I get it, you don’t wanna be seen with a guy.” He huffs as he brushes off his jeans and picks up his backpack. Peter swallows thickly, words flying through his head a mile a minute.

“Where’re you going?” Is all he can squeeze out. Harley ignores the question and spins around to face Peter, hurt flashing across his eyes.

“You know, being with people who only want to be with you in secret gets to you after a while. I’m not doing it anymore, even though I do really like you, Peter. It just fucking breaks you…”

Peter is too stunned to answer and worries his voice would betray him and crack if he spoke up. He’s still sitting on the floor of the roof, too rigid to stand as he watches Harley walk towards the stairs, head bowed. Peter doesn’t leave the spot for, well, he doesn’t know, but the sun is significantly lower than when they’d got there. He doesn’t bother going back to the tower, and starts the trek home in silence, not even putting head phones in.


End file.
